Syracuse football fans rejoice: the NFL is considering proposals that may, some day, eliminate the PAT in it’s present form. As SU fans know, special teams has been a weak spot over the past few years and the extra point is no exception.
Although the NCAA still requires teams to attempt what has become a “gimme” for most teams, the NFL is considering several proposals that would replace the PAT. Read more…
Here are the meaningful games in the Atlantic Coast Conference today (January 21, 2014):
Men’s Basketball:
Clemson (13-4, 4-1) @ #22 Pittsburgh (16-2, 4-1). 8:00 pm.
Notre Dame (11-7, 2-3) @ Florida State (12-5, 3-2). 8:00 pm.
Georgia Tech (10-8, 1-4) @ Boston College (5-13, 1-4). 9:00 pm.
Women’s Basketball:
None.
Italics = non-conference game
Here are the meaningful games in the Atlantic Coast Conference today (January 20, 2014):
Men’s Basketball:
North Carolina (11-6, 1-3) @ Virginia (13-5, 4-1). 7:00 pm.
Maryland (11-7, 3-2) @ North Carolina State (11-7, 1-4). 9:00 pm.
Women’s Basketball:
#2 Notre Dame (16-0, 4-0) @ #12 Tennessee (14-3, 3-2 SEC). 7:00 pm.
Wake Forest (9-8, 0-4) @ Clemson (9-9, 1-3). 7:00 pm.
Italics = non-conference game
Earlier this year, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim answered a question about how it felt to be a part of what might be the best basketball conference in history. To which he replied, “We already were.” Referring, of course, to the Big East in its former configuration.
Now this correspondent is an old-school ACC guy, so naturally I bristled a little. As did many of us.
And the thought crossed my mind, “wait until he gets into the conference schedule for real…”
The Motivation
Here at the Confidential, we like to talk about sports. Any sports really, but specifically ACC sports and our love for our favorite teams. Sometimes though, there are things that transcend what happens on the field. Sometimes, there are things that are more important. In the case of college athletics, it’s the athletes themselves that ultimately matter, not winning or losing, whether the system in place will say this or not. Ultimately, the most value comes from the people involved and the dreams that they have for the future.
Sporting News published an article that proposes a very interesting way to fix the NCAA. Now, there’s no need to debate it- everyone knows that the current system is broken. You’ve probably seen enough articles to that effect to know what’s going on. But the solution has always been, and will always be debated. How can you fix something that values money more than its money makers? What is the balance for providing a higher quality student athlete experience without compromising the financial benefits? Author Mike DeCourcy proposes a bold way to not only save the academic integrity of our universities, but to improve the lives of the players at the same time–
So, here we are… a few years after the Big 10 went on a colonization imperialistic expansion spree. The expectation was that the Big 10 would leverage Ohio State/Michigan and its history to catch up to the SEC in that sport (the money sport). Here we are in 2013-2014 and it does not appear to be shaping up that way. Instead, it appears that the Big 10’s basketball has passed its football, the ACC has set up its football to pass its basketball. For this year anyway. Consider:
An interesting point was made by acaffrey in the comments section of his recent article regarding potential division realignment in the ACC and the ramifications of moving to a schedule with 10 conference games.
The schools that pack their stadiums need 6 or 7 home games a year.
Coincidentally, I started compiling the attendance data for ACC home games just before the end of the regular season but never got around to completing a full post. So, it was a good reminder and a perfect opportunity to look deeper at which schools can boast the best attendance. Read more…
According to ESPN, Swofford suggests that the ACC (or at least he) favors greater latitude in determining who plays in a conference championship game. If the NCAA were to change the rule to allow a conference championship game to feature two teams–without regard to divisions–how would you divide the teams for division purposes?
Let us know below.
Original article:
According to Twitter, specifically: https://twitter.com/larrywilliamsti/status/409357740176179200, the ACC is going to re-consider the idea of the divisions.
Following Florida State’s dramatic win over Auburn last night in the National Championship game, the 2013-2014 College Bowl Season is officially over. Now we can look back and reflect on which conferences were the most successful, making the most of their bowl games, and which ones did not do as well. Read more…
The Cards are set to begin a new era as they join the ACC this July and now they will have to do it with a new head football coach. Former coach Charlie Strong was named the new head coach of the Texas Longhorns. At Louisville, Strong went 37-15 & 22-3 the last two years. He certainly left the program in better shape than he found it, both on the field and in the classroom. Despite it not seemingly to be the right fit for Texas we wish Strong well and hope he succeeds at his dream job. Go Stronghorns!
With his departure Louisville AD Tom Jurich will need to find Strongs replacement in a hurry with the recruiting dead period coming to an end soon. So far a vast majority of the Cards commitments are staying with the Cards but decision time is rapidly approaching. Jurich is known to be well prepared in his coaching searches but this time around it will be different. This time his pool of candidates will be larger with the additional draw and resources that comes with the ACC. There has been dozens of names thrown out by the media but only Jurich knows who’s on his list. Lets take a look at the probable favorites.
The Confidential 